1- The City of Karia
Crimson raised himself alone in the forest around Karia. Sometimes he met
nice humans so he could learn how to speak their language. He liked to be a
red wolf, and did not use his half-human shape often.
But something was happening within that great city called KAria. Some new
movement going on inside it. Travelers from all lands and mountains kept
coming and going. Crimson did not care much...until one of his human friends
came to visit him. That was rather common. They liked to feed him and play
with him as a pet. Sometimes he would take human form to speak and learn human
manners, and he decided to do that this time. The friend had brought some
clothes along. Crimson's friend was a teenage trader...brown eyes and hair,
wearing trader clothes.
"Red one, it's me...Icarius!"
The wolf had noticed his friend coming minutes ago and was expecting that
call, so he waited behind a tree and then padded out.
Icarius held out the clothes. "Here...I have some clothes for you, and
alot of news from Karia."
Icarius turned around and waited for Crimson to shift and clothe
himself.
Crimson dressed, and then poke Icarious in the ribs. "I'm
done...What is new in Karia?"
Icarius turned to face Crimson. "The archmages are calling adventurers to
extinguish some evil thing they feel coming over the city. Something wierd.
I've never heard of anything like it before. Maybe you would like to come to
Karia and try your hand at the job?"
Crimson answered, "Perhaps...but doing it alone would be useless for me.
I want to have experiences with humans."
Icarius smiled. "Well, you can group with some humans and take a look at
the job."
Crimson nodded. "What else? How is the business for your family?"
"Oh, well with all this movement of people going on, we're doing great!"
Icarius answered, opening up his satchel, "I've also brought you some food."
Crimson sniffed, and smiled, "Smells good!"
"Well, I asked Mom to make something up for a friend of mine, and she got
kinda curious, but not too much."
Icarius closed up his stachel and threw it back over his shoulder. "If
you come to the city, find me. I'll take you to the archmages."
Crimson nodded. "Fine."
Icarius waved and headed back towards the city. Crimson sat down and
enjoyed some of the food Icarius had brought along, and then took the rest to
a tree and stored it safely in a large hole.
Crimson shifted back to his wolf shape, and observed the movement along
the road to Karia. Smells and images filled his mind, and he began deciding
which humans he would join on the way into the city.
Then he saw his candidate.
She was female, he could tell, and smelled of roses. She wore the
equipment of a well-trained warrior, and walked with confidence. Her blue eyes
seemed to move towards the woods, as if she could feel his observation of her.
But she did not stop, and continued towards the city.
Crimson decided to watch the woman more closely, so he followed her,
always staying just within the shade and safety of the trees and bushes.
They walked a fair distance, and Crimson was startled when the woman
suddenly stopped and spun around, her sword aimed at the trees.
"Whoever you are, you had better quit following me or face the
consequences."
Crimson was surprised to the utmost, and stood stark still. The woman
stood a moment longer, and then continued on her way, glancing periodically
back over her shoulder. Crimson did not move for awhile, wanting to be certain
the woman was further away from him. But he was puzzled by what had happened.
How did she know he was there? No other person along the road seemed to have
noticed his presence. Crimson thought about the woman all night long.
The next morning, Crimson shifted into back into human form and wore the
clothes Icarius had brought him. He wandered back to the road and headed down
it into the city of Karia. He reached the gates in a short period of time, but
when he tried to pass through, the guards blocked his way. "Halt! Who requires
entrance to the great city of Karia?"
Crimson blinked, and replied calmly, "I am Crimson Wolf. I come to seek
the position said by the archmages."
"Outlander?"
"Well, yes."
"Stay out of trouble. The tavern is far north of here. The Blue Horse."
Crimson nodded. "And where is the market square?"
The guard pointed over his shoulder down a winding street. "Two blocks
that a way, then make a left at the Apothecary."
Crimson thanked the guards and headed in the direction the guard had
indicated. The smells of the city were almost overwhelming and he felt dizzy,
but he could still just barely smell the woman above the calamity of his
senses. Without thinking, he began tracking her, and ended up in the Blue
Horse Tavern.
He pushed open the door cautiously, and was greeted by a large amount of noise
and the smells of breakfast. Quite a busy place early in the morning, he
thought to himself.
Crimson stood at the door, and didn't realize that the people had stopped
eating and were gazing at him suspiciosly. He only had eyes for the lady, who
was sitting on the balcony, eating something that smelled of eggs and fat.
The woman also stopped eating, and turned her eyes to the doorway.
Crimson froze. She was wearing lighter clothing now, like his, and her hair
was no longer tied back, but fell around her shoulders. He just stared at her,
and then realized she was smiling at him.
The people began the make the connection, and many had begun to laugh.
Crimson heard the laughter, and broke his gaze. He blinked, and then turned
away from the door. His memory came back to him suddenly, and he realized he
was supposed to be meeting his friend at the market square. So he left the
tavern behind and backtracked down the street. He found the apothecary and
took a right, which led him to the market square.
Icarius caught sight of Crimson almost immediately. "Hey Crimson!"
Crimson meandered through the people over to Icarius' booth. He shook
hands with his friend, and then turned toward Icarius' parents. He introduced
himself politely and shook hands accordingly. He had a certain way with
people, and quickly earned the mother and father's approval.
Icarius turned to his father. "Crimson is going to be an archmage's
adventurer."
The father raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? Well, I certainly do not envy
you."
Crimson looked a bit puzzled. "Why not, sir?"
Icarius' father laughed. "You are no warrior for certain. Leave the tough
jobs to the tough men is what I say. And this is certainly a difficult job."
Crimson resisted the urge to make a comment about the father's current
position selling grapefruits. "You think so? What is bothering the citizens?"
The father sighed. "I don't know, really. And I don't want to know. But
there are certainly some strange things being mentioned around the city."
Icarius decided to interrupt. "Father, when will the archmages call the
travellers to see who shall be chosen?"
"Today at midday, in the town square."
Crimson looked up at the sun and saw that midday was already nearly here,
so he and Icarius headed off to the square for the proceeding.
The square was packed with people. There was no hope for an ant if it
happened to wander into the melee. People were shouting, wandering around,
arguing over who deserved the position, several not even clearly knowing what
it was for. The archmages had set up a stage in the center of the square,
where one now stood trying to calm the people.
The archmage explained that citizens of the great city were disappearing
without a cause. Even in broad daylight. They simply vanished without a trace,
and as far as they could tell, the problem was coming from the sewer system.
Needless to say, the archmages could not go into the sewers, and needed a
volunteer to rid the city of the anomaly.
Some of the canditates left before even getting up on stage, back to
their respective lands, hoping for some quest a little more adventurous than
the local sewers. When the archmages called volunteers up one by one, some
were dismissed immediately, having the wrong attributes or attitude. Others
were asked to perform some feats of their ability, such as archery or knife
throwing.
The archmages pondered each candidate carefully, and selected 20 out of
the tens of dozens that came up on stage. Crimson was one of the twenty, as
was the woman he'd been admiring.
The candidates could not understand why Crimson was chosen, for as far as
they could tell, he was not special. The archmages had not even asked him to
throw a knife or lift a bow. And all of them were sure they were much better
for the job of ridding the sewers of the unseen monstrocity. Crimson just
stood with the group, when suddenly the woman came up beside him.
"So," she said, "you're going for the position also, are you?"
Crimson almost couldn't speak, but managed to mumble, "Yes."
She laughed. "But why? You don't look like one to do this sort of
thing."
Crimson collected himself and shrugged. "Perhaps I just feel a
need to help hu...I mean, people."
The woman smiled at him, took his arm, and turned to the archmages.
"Sirs, I am Laura of Lillesand. Me and my friend..." She nudged Crimson.
"Crimson," he adlibbed.
"Me and my friend Crimson would like to take you up on this quest."
The archmages looked at one another, and then back at the couple before
them. "Well, young lady," replied one, "you and your friend here have not been
chosen. Do you feel you are both worthy?"
The woman thought a moment, and then replied. "Together we are worthy."
Crimson's heart was beating hard within his chest.
The archmage squinted his eyes and stared at the woman, and the woman
stared right back. The archmage nodded.
There was almost an immediate uproar from the remaining candidates, but
Crimson ignored their shouts. He could still not believe what had just
happened. He and this woman were bound to the quest, and he had only just
learned her name minutes before.